So here goes.

After having been walking for days on the mountain it was great to think about getting to Zanzibar and on to the beach. But first we had to get there.

We flew out from Kilimanjaro International again, but since this was a domestic flight our luggage allowance was now reduces from 2 x 26 kilos to 1 x 20 + hand luggage.  Which for me meant leaving a bit of stuff behind. Some of it I’ve already given to the porters back at the mountain and now I left some books which I’ve already read and some clothes that I found was beyond ever getting clean again.

I was a little kilo above the allowance but nobody seemed to care, and Ken checking in right behind med had 2 x 35 kilos to check in, and with a bit of “I’m just a stupid tourist” acting he actually got those on the plane without any problem.

Our flight went from Kilimanjaro International, had a stopover in Dar es Salaam before we got to Zanzibar International Airport.

We were greeted at the airport and taken by bud to a place just outside Stone Town called Zanzibar Ocean View Hotel. While the road to the hotel doesn’t relay seems to promise any ocean view at all the hotel i just stunning, right on the beach and with beautiful “bungalows” with a great view of the beach and the ocean. It’s a clean, nice place with friendly staff and good food. Have a look at their pages, and the images and bear in mind that this place is the only one I’ve been to that is more stunning in real life than on the photos provided

Just what we needed after the tents on Kilimanjaro.

We had two nights at this place before heading north to Nungwi Beach.

The first afternoon a couple of us went in to Stone Town and had dinner and a few drinks at the Africa House Hotel. They have a great terrace to watch the sunset from, but we were a bit to late for that.

The dinner service is slow, that seems to be the rule around Zanzibar, but the drinks are good and with a pleasant relaxed atmosphere.

On the second day in Stone Town I and some other in our group went out to Prison Island.

Prison Island is a small island a short hop from Stone Town by boat,  there is no ferry service there so you would have to hire a dhow to take your there. On the island there is a resort where you can stay or have dinner in the restaurant. Since it was Ramadan when I was there the restaurant was closed so we didn’t go there.

Prison Island got its name after a prison was built there in 1890 but it was never used as a prison. According to our guide the rulers found the place to be to nice and were afraid any prisoners there would find it to be a paradise.

At the moment the island is a giant turtle sanctuary and you can have a walk around a look, feed and pet the turtles. Again we see how this place works. There are signs everywhere telling you not to feed or touch the turtles, but the first thing you get when you enter through the gate is handful of green grass that the turtles love

After having a look at the turtles and a guided tour of the prison we hit the beach, some people went out in the dhow to do some snorkelling while the rest of us baked and swam.

Little word of warning, be aware of the birds on the island. They will go after your food and pick holes in paper and plastic bags to get to it.

When we got back to Stone Town we had a late lunch at one of the places just of the beach. Zanzibar being a Muslim community and this being Ramadan meant that we had to go inside to “hide” while eating which is kind of a shame thinking about the beautiful surroundings. But showing a bit of respect never hurt anyone.

Then we had a wander around in Stone Town it self. The place is known for it’s narrow alleys and is packed with souvenir shops. I think this is a shame because it takes some of the charm away from the place. We walked around for a while, got a bit lost and eventually ended up at a open air market just on the out skirt. I guess that’s where the locals went to do their shopping because the place was packed with people and all kind of goods.

By now we were tired and got a cab to take us back to the Ocean View Hotel. You have to haggle with the Taxi drivers for a proper price. We got back to the resort and of course the driver wanted to get paid more.

Later we went into town again and had dinner and Johan lead us on a wild goose chase to find some place that used to be good. But I guess it was closed cause we ended up back at Africa House.

On the third day we left Stone Town and headed for Nungwi, some of us embarked on a spice safari on the way north.

The Spice safari took us to a little farm that was probably made just to show of the different spices and to show tourist around. A guide took us all around the place and showed us the different spices and we got to smell and taste it right from the tree, bushes and roots.

We also had a fruit “lunch” where we got to taste all the local fruits. Some familiar and some not. I also got the best grapefruit ever ! After lunch we were threatened with a little show where a local kid climbed a coconut palm while singing some tune, and when he came down he served us coconut milk directly from the coconuts.

And then of course we were able  by spices grown on the farm to support the farmers. They also had soaps, teas and fragrances made there. And we got a hat made of palm leaves, and a palm leaf tie for the guys and a small palm leaf frog necklace for the girls.

When we left I gave my hat to a bunch of kids that ran around our bus as we left the place. Guess they would have more fun with it that I would.

Nungwi Beach

When we drove toward the new place in Nungwi I again got the feeling that we were not to find any beaches, the last part of the drive brought us through narrow lanes with run down houses and a lot of litter all around. But after we got through the gates at Amaan Bungalows it all freshened up.

Amman Bungalows and the Ocean View Hotel are both run by the same company, but the standard is a bit lower in Nungwi. The rooms are still nice and clean but the food served and the service is a bit poorer.

But when it comes to food Nungwi is not lacking at all, all the way up and down the beach you’ll find lots of resorts with very good food and service. There were also plenty of  room on the beaches and great water for swimming.

The days in Nungwi was spent just relaxing, some people went snorkelling and diving but I kept to the beach.

We had nice warm days which usually had a small rain shower around  lunch, but it was quickly done with and back to nice and sunny.

In the afternoon we would go out in smaller groups for dinner since we found that most places would have a problem serving 25 people in one go. And of course not everyone likes the same food and after living on top of each other on Kilimanjaro you need a break sometime.

After dinner I kept ending up at the “boat” bar, which was the only place that was open late, had reasonable prices and nice cocktails

Getting back home at night however was a bit more challenging at times. The gates along the beach between the resorts usually closed around 11 pm and then you would have to either walk the beach, which was a problem since the tide was inn, or walk around the outside of our compound to get to the main gate. Which might be a bit scary since it’s almost pitch black and out in the middle of nowhere.

But it usually worked out just fine.

So I guess this is the end of the African adventure trilogy, the trip home from Zanzibar was long and quite boring so I won’t write much about that

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We started out quite early from Karibu Home and headed north to the start of the Rongai Kilimanjaro route. This route starts on the north slope of Kilimanjaro, bringing you straight up toward the mountain and then you trek back just below the plains of the Saddle. And the up and back across the Saddle again. This detour ads quite a bit of time at higher altitude so the ascent to the summit might be a bit easier.

The route starts at about 2000 MASL and looking at other accounts of the route it seems we did it slightly different.

After lunch and registration we started out slowly toward our first camp, weather was good and it was a nice walk through the forest and past some farms. We stopped for the night at what the guide called Simba camp. Which is not as hight as First Cave where I know other has been camping in the past. Here we divided our self between tents and I ended up together with Stefan. We shared the same tent for the rest of the trip on the mountain which worked fine for me.

Since we had the same numbered tent for the rest of the trip we also got our packs in it when we arrived at our overnight stops for the rest of the trip. It’s nice not having to go looking for your luggage every day.

After settling down in the tents we had our afternoon tea while waiting for dinner. Afternoon tea meant that we got tea, coffee or hot chocolate (Cadbury or Milo) and some popcorn and warm peanuts. This we got every afternoon when we stopped and I guess it’s a good way to get some salt into your body.

For dinner we got soup for starters. Soup was also part of every meal, except for breakfast where we got some sort of gruel. I has no hunger the first days so I mostly of soup, gruel and fruits. Which for me at least seemed to work out just fine.

The food we got on the mountain was for the most part very good, it’s amazing what food the chef was able to make in his little tent.

After dinner we went to bed, not much to do in the darkness.

The first night I didn’t sleep the best. I’ve overfilled my air mattress a bit and I kept rolling off or sliding down into the bottom of the tent. But I guess I got the sleep I needed.

Day two on the mountain

I woke up early and was already awake when the wakeup call came. Every morning we got served hot coffee or tea in our tents, real luxury

We packed up our stuff and had breakfast before we started on the second day of walking. While we ate the porters tore the tents down and started off toward the next camp to have it ready for our arrival. And after we started walking the mes tent and kitchen was taken down and after a short while we were overtaken by the porters carrying all this.

As we walked further up we came into the clouds and most of the day we walked with only about 20 meters of visibility. We had lunch at Second Cave before continuing up a few hundred meters more and then back down a little to our next camp.

Apparently it’s good to have been a bit higher than your campsite before you go to bed. You’ll sleep better.

The second day we walked for 7 – 8 hours which was one of the longest walks. I was walking with the first group and we were at the Kikelea Caves about an hour before the last group came in.

At Kikelea Caves the fog lifted and we got sunshine and a good view of both the summit of Kilimanjaro and the top of Mawenzi. That night we got the first feeling of the cold and when I went to bed there was frost on our tent, and my shirt that was hung to dry was a bit frozen.

Day three on the mountain

I woke up to a nice sunny day and below us we could see a carpet of clouds, it’s kind of a strange experience.

After breakfast we started on the walk to Mawenzi Tarn Hut which is a camp in the shadow of Mawenzi. The walk today was only 3 – 4 hours long but the going was quite steep and we gained quite a bit of height. We got to the camp at lunch time and after settling in we ate. We also got the offer that day to do a short walk, about 90 minutes, up on the ridge above the camp. Again to be able to sleep better at night and to have a look at the view.

The ridge is quite narrow and we could look down into our camp on one side and on the other we had a great view of the Saddle and Kilimanjaro. Not everyone did this walk but I’m glad I did.

When we got back down it was time for dinner and then back to bed.

I’ll always remember this camp I guess, at least the toilets, because this was the camp where Erik managed to lose his sunglasses into one of the black holes

And once again we saw that the porters are a crafty bunch. One of the porters went around with a charging service for mobile phones and mp3 players. A little hand cranked generator and some universal charging cords.

Pishang tried to have his iPhone charged, but without much luck. I guess it would have worked if the guy kept cranking all night

Day four on the mountain

This was the day where most things happened.

We started out early for the trek across the Saddle to Kibo Hut and later the summit attempt. The walking was easy but when we came into the open the wind picked up quite a bit. And the Saddle seems to go on forever. It’s really hard to judge the distance and it seems that every time I looked up it was just as far to go.

But eventually we got to the camp. There we had some food and then settled down to sleep a couple of hours before starting on the final push to the top.

Day five – the summit.

We woke at 2300 on day four, had a quick bite, got some food for the climb to the mountain and filled our water bottles with warm water. At the camp the temperature was down to 0 degrees C and further up it would be even colder.

We started out about midnight and walked slowly in a long row up the mountain. We had a bright almost full moon and I didn’t use my headlamp until I was almost at Gilman’s point.

At around 5000 MASL (Williams point) I started to feel the lack of oxygen, I got dizzy and from there on upwards I had to concentrate on taking really deep breaths. When I managed that I felt just fine.  This was also the height where we unfortunately lost two people from our group that didn’t feel well enough to continue.

A bit further on we had a break and was divided into three groups; one fast, one slow and on in the middle. I elected to walk in the slow group since I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up with the other. If I knew what I know now I would have gone with the middle group.

As we set out I felt the slow group was a bit slow and I set out to try to catch up with the middle group which I saw not to far ahead. Somehow I missed a break or something like that because when I got closer to the summit I found that I was just behind the first group. I guess that was one of my mistakes that made me stop at Gilman’s point.

However I got a spurt of energy and suddenly I literary fell across the threshold to Gilman’s point and collapsed in a corner. I was tired and it was cold a miserable. The sun was just coming up but at the top we were in the clouds and there was even a bit of snow in the air. I guess this broke my spirit and all I could think about was getting back down.

When the rest set of toward Uhuru Peak, I together with Kent, Lilian and Kristofer started on the trip back down. I found the trip down to be one of the most enjoyable experiences on the mountain. The first part was like I imagined, not the easiest I’ve done because of the quite steep rocks and loose gravel.

But then we came to the part where we had zigzagged up across the gravel. Instead of zigzagging down out guides grabbed us and we set out half running / surfing down the gravel slope. I guess you could almost compare it to off-piste skiing, without the skis and snow And as long as you stayed clear of the bigger rocks it was quite easy going.

After the  gravel the going was a bit harder on the thighs as you were breaking your way down to the camp.

And then it was all over, seven hours to get to Gilman’s point and 1 hour 20 minutes to get back down.

Since we were returning early we also had some time just to relax before we did the 9.2 km hike down to Horombo Hut where we had the last night on the mountain. Since this was a very good path and no chance of us getting list we were allowed to walk it more or less on our own so we were small groups that piled into camp that afternoon.

And I guess everyone had a great nights sleep that night.

Day six, going down to Marangu gate.

This was the last day of walking, we still got up quite early and set off on the walk , first down to Mandara Hut where we had our last lunch and then down to Marangu gate.

The first part almost to Mandara Hut was in warm sunshine, but as we got further down we got into the cloud layer and things became a bit damp. We didn’t really have rain but it was quite foggy, making the forest look like something out of a fairytale.

From Mandara Hut and down to the gate went fast, I guess everybody was longing for a cold beer, a shower and a proper bed.

At the gate we had a few beers, signed out of the parks journal and said our goodbyes to the guides and porters. All the porters sang a Kilimanjaro tune and we collected a lot of clothes and equipment that we didn’t need any more an that we knew the porters would put to proper use.

Then we got in the bus and headed for the lounge where we were hoping for a warm shower and a good bed.

The bed was good but the shower was lacking In my room we only got lukewarm water, at best. But I guess it was better than nothing and we all started looking forward to Zanzibar.

We had dinner that evening together with the head guide and then we went to bed and had a good nights sleep before heading out to Zanzibar and the last part of this adventure.

Keep reading about my African adventure in part III – Zanzibar

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We started out from Arlanda International airport outside of Stockholm on the 17th of August. From there we flew to Addis Abeba via Rome, had a change of flight in Addis and flew from there via Nairobi to Kilimanjaro International.

At Kilimanjaro International we were picked up and driven to Karibu Home our first place to sleep. I was put in the Kilimanjaro room which I shared with Caroline, Emma and Hamid.

Karibu Home is quite a nice oasis, but I’m not sure I’ve ever found the way there if I had to drive there my self

Nice rooms and a great pool. We were a bit unlucky with the water pressure so having a shower wasn’t the easiest. But this is Africa. We got good food, but I guess they wasn’t prepared for hungry Scandinavians because we kept running out of some food so that the last in the line didn’t always get much.

And there was the case of the famous potatoes.

On of the dinners served was fish, which was great but we all wondered if the potatoes were missing. But the staff told us that there wasn’t supposed to be potatoes. Fair enough.

But then after we all had our fish and salad on of the waiters came with a huge pot of, you guess, potatoes.

So we had potatoes for dessert

Day 3 – 19th of August

Today we got up to have breakfast at  0800, which was server at 0900. Africa time, something we just had to learn. I guess people live by “pole pole” which means slowly or take it slow. And of course Hakuna Matata

We then got to meet our guide for the Kilimanjaro expedition and had a briefing on what was going to happen on the mountain.

Then we set out in the four hour drive to the Ngorongoro crater. We came to the parks outer gate just before 1800 and just in time to get into the park that afternoon. On the craters rim we spent the night in the Simba A camp sites and we had Zebras grazing around tour tents that night.

Day 4 – 20th of August – The Safari

We got up before first light so that we could be ready to drive into the park at 0600 when the park opened for visitors. We were of course a bit late, even if we were up and ready in good time.

When we first started out we hardly saw any animals at all, but I guess this is the time of day were you might be able to witness a hunt. The closes we came to that was watching an hyena eating in the distance.

We drove around and I got to see three of the big five. The first was the Elephant, then we got to see two male lions walking right past our car and to a waterhole to drink. After a long drink they came back and laid down to rest in the shadow of some threes. And of course we saw the buffalo.

And we saw a lot of other birds, animals and a lot of bugs, annoying flying bugs that clung to our vehicle and flew up all around us as soon as we stopped. Really annoying. But not dangerous the guide kept telling us.

We also did a stop where we could get out of the car and stretch our legs. While waiting there an big elephant  came by and seemed to want to have a drink in the little lake we stopped by. But I guess that the amount of people scared it away so it just went past us.

In the afternoone we went back to Simba A for lunch and the we started on the trip back to Karibu Home. I was great to get back there and to be able to get rid of the dust and grime with a dip in the pool

Smart me wore my white Pink Caravan T-shirt on the safari so both the t-shirt and trousers eventually found their way to a dustbin. No chance at all to get it clean

Then it was time to to split the luggage. One bag whit the stuff we needed for the Kilimanjaro walk and another that was shipped right to the hotel were we would go after coming down from the mountain.

Keep reading about my African adventure in part II – Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

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It’s been a great few weeks with a lot of relaxing and hard work. Not necessarily in that order. I’ll sit down when I get back and do some proper posts on how the trip went.

In general it went good. I got to see lions and elephants. Reached Gilman’s Point at 5685 m and slept on the beaches of Zanzibar.

And I won a 2000 SEK gift card, so I guess there’s going to be more Pink Caravan travels for me in the future.

I’ve finally got my stuff arranged at work and booked my trip. I’m going to go to Tanzania and hike Mt. Kilimanjaro. I got a tip from a friend of mine about this particular trip and I figured that it would be great to be able to do it.

The whole trip is arranged by Rosa Bussarna which is a Swedish travel company that specializes in adventure trips around the world. The one I’m going on is a 18 days trip where we’ll visit the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. You can read more about the trip here. (Swedish only)

I’m really looking forward to this. Except that I’ve got to go get a bunch of vaccinations, I really can’t stand taking shots. But I guess I have to

And if the preliminary dates are kept like today I’m probably going to have a long weekend in Stockholm too prior to leaving.